<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Retrieval by Eberesche</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28884918">Retrieval</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eberesche/pseuds/Eberesche'>Eberesche</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Torchwood</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Episode: s02e01 Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Ianto Jones-Centric, Jack’s back (is broken), M/M, Missing Scene, Sucks to be him I guess, Temporary Character Death - Jack Harkness</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 08:21:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,382</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28884918</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eberesche/pseuds/Eberesche</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ianto and the team return to the office block to search for Jack, but are they prepared for what they’ll find?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>59</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Retrieval</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ianto felt sick to his stomach as he turned the corner onto the street where the office block was. Comms had been back for at least ten minutes, yet no one could get hold of Jack. He wasn’t even certain as to whether the captain was still there, but they had to start searching <em>somewhere</em>.</p><p>“And you’re sure this is it?” asked Owen, teeth gritted as he clutched his side. His t-shirt was a complete lost cause, and he was <em>still </em>bleeding. Ianto just hoped the leather upholstery would survive.<br/>Tosh shot Owen a look in the rearview mirror “Definitely. Ianto’s not exactly the forgetful type, <em>and </em>I’m getting a fix on Jack’s equipment. Earpiece, wrist strap-“<br/>“Oh my god!” Gwen yelled, clutching Owen’s arm.<br/>“What?!” he yelped, before following her gaze out of the window. “Oh <em>shit.</em>”</p><p>Ianto slammed the breaks. What the pair had spotted was a person – a person with their back bent at a sickening angle where they lay, splayed across an outdoor bench at the foot of the office building. Tosh gasped. Ianto swallowed back bile.</p><p>“Right,” said Owen, tone perfectly level and professional “Gwen, you said he <em>can’t </em>die, correct?”<br/>“Well, he can, but he comes back. As we’ve seen.”<br/>The medic frowned. “We’ve <em>seen</em> him come back from a headshot and a rift demon. That” – he pointed to the captain’s distorted body – “is a whole new level of fucked. Tosh, I need the stretcher from the boot. Ianto and Gwen, you’re with me.”</p><p>Despite the clarity of Owen’s instructions, the archivist felt rooted to the spot. His grip on the steering wheel was white-knuckled, even as the others clambered out of the car. It was disgusting, but Ianto couldn’t take his eyes off the scene. He’d seen Jack dead before, of course. There was the first time he’d known for sure, when Owen had shot him, and then the days immediately following Abaddon. In hindsight, Jack had almost definitely been dead during their confrontation with the Saviour, and had probably died with John Ellis in Ianto’s own Audi.</p><p>Even if the bastard <em>had </em>run off with the Doctor, he didn’t deserve to die once, let alone <em>repeatedly</em>. No one did. Of course, Gwen had assured them in those months without Jack that he’d told her he’d always come back, but that didn’t make seeing him dead in between any easier.</p><p>Tosh rounded the car, opening the driver side door carefully. She laid a hesitant hand on Ianto’s arm, but it did little in the way of grounding him. He still felt like he was going to throw up. “Ianto?”<br/>Owen sighed. “Give him a sec, Tosh.”<br/>“You join us when you’re ready, love,” said Gwen, now standing beside Tosh. Ianto wasn’t sure if their obscuring his view of Jack was deliberate or not, but he was grateful all the same.</p><p>He shook his head. He wasn’t just gonna sit there while Jack was lying dead. No way. Personal feelings aside, he was their general support officer, and he was going to bloody well do his job. He drew in a deep breath. He could process things later. For now, the captain was the priority. He always was. “I’m fine,” he said, “let’s go.”</p><p>It was a decision he immediately regretted once they got to the body. Jack’s eyes were wide open and glassy, just as they had been when Owen had shot him. For a moment, it felt like Ianto was back there in the Hub, kneeling on ice-cold concrete by the corpse of a lover for the second time in barely over two months. Another person he’d lost. But he wasn’t, and he hadn’t. This wasn’t the Hub, and Jack wasn’t truly gone.</p><p>There was a small trickle of blood running down into his hair from his mouth, but otherwise the only obvious sign of damage was his back. He’d been pushed from the roof, Ianto realised with a wince as he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket to gently wipe away the blood. He had to make himself useful somehow.</p><p>Meanwhile, Owen checked Jack’s neck and wrists for a pulse. “Definitely still dead. Poor fucker’s spine must be completely shattered. Likely got some interesting head injuries too.”<br/>“I don’t think he’ll come back until we move him,” said Gwen.<br/>“Took him days after Abaddon,” replied Owen, already bracing himself to lift Jack’s upper body despite his own wound. He turned to call behind him “Tosh!”<br/>“I’m here,” said the technician, dragging the field stretcher along with her. It wasn’t exactly the gurney Owen would’ve preferred, but they weren’t paramedics, so he’d learnt to make do.</p><p>“Right. Ianto, you take his legs. Gwen, support his middle,” Owen ordered. It was rare for the doctor to delegate orders with so little objection, but when it came to medical issues, the others knew to trust him. “His spine’s snapped like a bloody Kit-Kat, but the least we can do is avoid more damage. We’re gonna <em>gently</em> move him to the end, and then lower him onto the stretcher. Got it?”<br/>“Got it,” chorused Gwen and Tosh. Ianto just nodded. The longer he looked at Jack, the more horrifying the whole scenario became.</p><p>It was just as they finished sliding Jack’s corpse to end of the bench that things got <em>beyond </em>fucked up. The sound was faint at first, like Rice Krispies gently crackling, but it gradually grew louder. And then the movement began. Amid the rising, gravel-like crunch of Jack’s spine knitting together, Ianto could feel the weight he was bearing becoming lighter, as though whatever force was fixing Jack’s back was also pulling him straight to keep it that way. Owen looked up at Ianto, wide eyed as he too noticed the motion, as well as the sudden rush of blood warming the still dead body between them. <em>Not dead for long</em>, Ianto thought, relieved.</p><p>“Okay,” said Owen, “Gwen, let go and get ready to help Tosh with the stretcher. We need to get moving.”<br/>“But-“<br/>The medic scowled. “You said it yourself, he’ll be fine. Now <em>move.</em>”</p><p>Ianto could still feel the life seeping back into Jack. His skin felt warm and alive, even through the thick fabric of his clothes. Mercifully, they seemed intact. <em>Including the coat</em>, Ianto observed, allowing himself a small smile. Being able to <em>feel</em> Jack slowly returning was enough to finally dissipate the nausea, thankfully.</p><p>They hoisted Jack onto the stretcher just as the cracking ceased. And then they waited.</p><p>It felt like an age before anything happened. His eyes were still blank, though Ianto would’ve sworn there was at least a hint of <em>something </em>behind the blue that hadn’t been there a moment ago. They all stood back.<br/>“Do we just wait?” asked Tosh.<br/>Gwen frowned “I mean, it worked befo-“</p><p>A heaving gasp from Jack’s suddenly all too animate body cut off her sentence, the words lost to a startled scream as the captain shot upright. Ianto took a moment to thank God they hadn’t been carrying the stretcher. That would <em>not </em>have been pretty. Jack glanced round wildly for a moment, seemingly getting his bearings, before jumping to his feet at the centre of the group. “So,” he said, flashing a particularly manic grin “are we gonna go pay John a visit, or what?”</p><p>And just like that, Jack was back – awake and alive and, of course, acting as though everything was fine. It should’ve driven Ianto mad, but he honestly couldn’t find the energy to be angry. He’d have the chance once the day was done, assuming John Hart didn’t kill them all first.</p><p>As Jack strode back to the SUV, team in tow, Ianto wondered how many times they’d end up back there again, staring at a mangled corpse and willing Jack back to life. Now that they all knew, it was par for the course that he was going to be a lot less careful. The only question was as to how long Ianto could cope. After all, there’s only so many times you can watch someone you care about die before it’s simply too much. And that was all it was, Ianto told himself. Mutual <em>care.</em></p><p>Date or not, how could a man who had forever possibly bear to love anyone back?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey, I wrote another thing. Did I kill one of them again? Sure, but at least it wasn’t permanent this time!</p><p>I may do a more traditional post-ep follow-up to this at some point. In the mean time, I hope you enjoyed it!</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>